Allred weighs in on state budget crisis
Post Published: 12 February 2010
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keith Allred is weighing in on the state’s budget crisis, and claiming that Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has too negative of an outlook.
“When Otter says we have no choice but to cut education, he’s just factually wrong,” Allred said in a statement. “We should build the budget on evidence, not irrational pessimism.”
Here’s what Allred points to as evidence to back that up:
1) Idaho’s chief economist Mike Ferguson’s recent statement that revenues could grow by more than $82 million.
2) The Associated Taxpayers of Idaho and Tax Commission are projecting even more revenue increases.
Allred’s also concerned about cuts hitting public education and putting student achievement on the back burner.
“When the revenues come in as projected, there is no magic wand that can be waved to repair the damage to student achievement that has already been done,” Allred said in a statement. “We should not be engaging in a race to the bottom when it comes to our budget projection. My hope is that the Legislature’s budget writers don’t follow Gov. Otter’s reckless lead. We don’t need to be mortgaging our kids’ future by cutting education.”
Snowbound senator
Post Published: 12 February 2010Idaho’s usually the state dealing with snowstorms, but not this week. Washington, D.C. got hammered this week with a one-two punch of major snowstorms that dumped a couple feet of the white stuff on our nation’s capitol.
Being a hardy Idahoan, U.S. Sen. Jim Risch was working in his D.C. office this week, unlike his Senate brethren from fair weather states.
“It is like a ghost town around here,” Risch in a statement. “I walked from my apartment this morning and there weren’t even taxis on the street. In the building where my office is located very few people showed up for work, but we do have some staff in my office answering the phones.”
Sen. Jim Risch braves D.C. snowstorm.
The Senate ended its official business of the week on Tuesday.
“I am really looking forward to getting back to Idaho next week, where not only the weather will be better, there will be a lot more people to talk to than there are here,” Risch added.
State budget target to be set
Post Published: 11 February 2010The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee will begin work on setting a budget target number on Friday.
This means that JFAC is shifting gears and moving away from hearing from agencies and must wade through the numbers and analysis of the economy and state budget. The work is far from done, though. After an overall target is set, then JFAC goes through the various areas of state government: education, health and welfare, and so on before approving a final budget.
From there, they’ll have to sell it to the House and Senate.
Numbers adding up right?
Post Published: 11 February 2010In the end, $22 million will have to do instead of $52.8 million to help offset the cuts to public education. That’s the outcome of the state land board meeting on Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna’s proposal for tapping into the reserve account for schools .
One observation about the State Land Board meeting: Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna mentioned a shortfall in the education budget of $135 million. Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter was quick to ask Luna how much of that is state general fund vs. federal stimulus money that’s not returning.
Otter’s point: The governor’s not responsible for a $135 million shortfall — it simply has to do with federal stimulus money approved last year not returning hardly at all. More than $100 million of that shortfall can be attributed to federal funding — only about $29 million is from the state’s general fund.
Luna didn’t dispute that, and said he was simply trying to give the overall picture. He also pointed out that the state’s general fund cut out $68 million from public education in this year’s current budget.
Here’s what wasn’t said at the meeting by anyone:
The public schools budget the Legislature approved in 2009 actually had a 0.4 percent overall increase despite the $68 million cut in state funding.
You guessed it, the increase came from federal stimulus funding. The other side of the story, though, is that federal stimulus money has specified uses and a school district cannot spend it however they wish.
To read the full story, visit here.
Luna sends out e-mail prior to Land Board vote
Post Published: 09 February 2010Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna sent out an email Friday reminding superintendents, school board trustees and charter school administrators about the Idaho Land Board’s meeting this Wednesday for a decision about whether to tap into the endowment fund for the immediate education needs.
He also encourages them to contact the land board members and voice their support, according to the e-mail, which was obtained by Capitol Confidential.
A voting member of the land board, Luna wants to tap $52.8 million from the endowment fund, but he’ll still need two more votes for it to pass. The other members are: the governor, attorney general, state controller and secretary of state.
If the recipients of Luna’s email all write the letters he requested, that means each land board member will get more than 100 letters. Idaho has 115 school districts and more than 30 charter schools. Luna’s approach, though, doesn’t follow that of a boilerplate form letter.
He asks all the schools to be specific about their own situation. The full text of the email is below.
From: TRLuna@SDE.IDAHO.GOV
To: TRLuna@SDE.IDAHO.GOV
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 15:25:24 -0700
Subject: Idaho Land Board Vote
Dear Superintendents, Charter School Administrators and School Board Trustees,
I am writing to remind you that the Idaho Land Board is scheduled to vote on Wednesday, February 10 on the one-time distribution of $52.8 million from the Public School Earnings Reserve Fund. This additional revenue will help in significantly reducing the cuts to public schools in the upcoming fiscal year 2011. As State Superintendent, I urge you to voice your support to the members of the Idaho Land Board for the approval of this one-time distribution. They need to hear your support.
Several school districts have sent letters of support signed by the district superintendent, school board chair and teachers’ association president. I strongly encourage every district to take this step and send a similar letter to demonstrate the widespread support for this one-time distribution. In this letter, please be sure to describe how your district and most importantly, your students, will be affected if Idaho’s public schools do not receive this additional funding.
Thank you for your time and your continued support during this tough economic situation.
Tom Luna
In Sunday’s Times-News
Post Published: 07 February 2010Things don’t slow down just because it’s the weekend.
Capitol Confidential has a story about Sen. Michelle Stennett, who is sitting in for her husband, Sen. Clint Stennett, this session while he recovers from brain cancer. To read the story, visit here.
I’ve also got a column about legislators not losing their sense of humor despite the challenges they face with the budget. My weekly column is here.
In the news today
Post Published: 03 February 2010Here’s what’s in today’s Times-News:
The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has suspended for a second year a program that gathers water quality data because of budget cuts. But DEQ director Toni Hardesty told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee that the program cannot be cut a third year because of federal requirements through the Clean Water Act. The story is here.
Reporter Nate Poppino has a story about the statewide impact of the Idaho Supreme Court’s ruling that upholds Gooding County’s confined animal feedlot operation (CAFO) ordinance. The story is here.
Idaho Delegation statement about Idahoans in Haiti
Post Published: 01 February 2010Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, along with Congressmen Mike Simpson and Walt Minnick issued the following statement today about the arrest of Idahoans in Haiti relating to child abduction charges. The Idahoans, members of the Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian and the East Side Baptist Church in Twin Falls.
“Our offices are often asked to intervene to help Idahoans and, while it is not customary to discuss any details because of constituent privacy, family members and church leadership have allowed us to comment on the situation,” delegation members said.
“We are in steady contact with the U.S. State Department and the U.S. offices in Port-au-Prince regarding the holding of the 10 Americans, many of them from Idaho. We are working with the State Department to monitor the safety of these Idahoans and to make sure they have adequate food, water, medical care and proper housing. We hope for their return to the United States as quickly as possible.”
We’ll post updates about the situation at magicvalley.com.
Livestock waste rule passes House committee
Post Published: 28 January 2010A rule regulating where third-party livestock waste can be stockpiled has cleared the House Agricultural Affairs Committee today.
That’s its last major hurdle before the House and Senate vote on it. The rule will put setbacks in place for manure stockpiling, keeping it a specified distance from neighbors, schools, churches, state surface waters and public highways. Violations can lead to fines of up to $3,000.
Committee members Rep. Jim Patrick, R-Twin Falls, and Rep. Donna Pence, D-Gooding, both said the rule would help the Magic Valley, where Idaho’s dairy industry has a strong presence.
The Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee has already approved the rule.
Jerome School District facing tight times
Post Published: 28 January 2010Jerome School District may have to declare an emergency and its funding shortfall could reach $573,000 with holdbacks that the governor has proposed for public schools in response to state revenues plummeting.
Cutting field trips, travel for athletic games, and fewer school days are all prospects as the school districts looks at its budget. Reporter John Plestina has the full story here.
The news came the same week that K-12 and higher education are giving their presentations to the Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has proposed 1.6 percent or $40 million in holdbacks this fiscal year, though that figure’s widely anticipated to not be enough.